The Patriot Act Never Dies...

Senate Passed a Short-Term Extension
You'd better start asking yourself how your US Senators voted on the three month extension of the Patriot Act. Three of the eleven ILLEGAL "terrorist fighting measures" were expiring this month and the US Senate just allowed them all to pass for a three month time frame. That's three months too long.

Why Did They Support It?
Start with this question: Why the US Senate support the UNLAWFUL Patriot Act? It violates the US Constitution. As Dianne Feinstein defends her supporting vote by saying that "our law enforcement and intelligence agencies would lack important tools to protect this nation."

So she and the majority of US Senators think that it's OK to TRASH the law of the land so we can be "protected" by the government. Yeah, look more closely. The Patriot Act gives the government unconstitutional powers that ignore YOUR freedoms and liberties. The the provisions give the government access to sensitive personal records such as medical, library and gun records and a lot more. (See December's blog). It creates a POLICE STATE for American citizens all in the name of protection.

Useful Tool
Do some quick homework. Find out how your Senators voted on this. Go to the website that helps demystify their voting records. It's called ProgressivePunch.org. ProgressivePunch.org is a non-partisan website that contains a searchable database of Congressional voting records. Before you get all turned-off. STOP! It's easy to use and will be a big help to you in tracking your representatives.

It shows you the performance and voting record of Congress for 160 different categories. You can get as much (or little) of the details as you want. You choose what to drill-down to find info on what matters most to YOU!

This is a free service and will show you whether your representatives are voting the way you want them to vote on the issues that concern you the most. it also helps you keep up with them so you can follow how they are voting on YOUR behalf!

How It Works
There are three ways to use the site, as follows:

1) Search by Members of Congress - Select your Representative or Senator and see how they are ranked overall. Then drill-down on specific issues.

2) Search by Issue Choose an issue category and see their voting results. Simple!

3) Search by Roll Call Vote Choose Senate or House, the year, and the number of the roll-call vote. Wa-lah, the results!

Action To Take
Look up your Representatives voting records on the Patriot Act. If they supported it, let them know VEHEMENTLY that you oppose this blatant violation against the US Constitution. Tell them to ABOLISH this Act - NOT support it.